


The Gossip Girls

by realityisoverrated



Series: Infinite Love [140]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Polyamory, Polyfidelity, Smoaking billionaires, Toliver, flommy, olicity - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-21
Updated: 2017-10-21
Packaged: 2019-01-20 12:49:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,242
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12433215
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/realityisoverrated/pseuds/realityisoverrated
Summary: Felicity meets some other moms at a birthday party for the twins' classmate.





	The Gossip Girls

**Author's Note:**

> This story depicts a polyamorous relationship between one woman and two men. If this is not something you are interested in, please stop and go no further.
> 
> This installment is 128/140. The the chronological list for the series, with hyperlinks, can be found at http://archiveofourown.org/works/11051019
> 
> If you're new to the series, welcome. The more the merrier.

Artwork by Lademonessa

 

If someone asked Felicity what the worst thing about having four children was, they might be surprised by her answer. It wasn’t the loss of alone time with her husbands. It wasn’t the expense. It wasn’t listening to poorly played recitals, or little league games, or children squabbling in public. The absolute worst thing about being the mother of four children was the birthday parties. The parties forced them to socialize with people with whom they had nothing in common with except children who went to school together. For the past ten years, it seemed like every weekend they attended at least one birthday party. Sometimes, like this weekend, they had more than one to attend. Oliver was attending a party with Bobby, Tommy had accompanied Becca, and Felicity was with the twins.

The party was at the home of the twins’ classmate, April Martin. Their friend’s backyard had been turned into a delight for six-year-olds. There was a bouncy castle, face painting, two ponies and a snow cone machine. All the children were running around having a good time, except for her Prue. She’d only been out of the hospital for a week and wasn’t permitted on the bouncy castle or the ponies. Prue was giving Nate instructions on which activity he should participate in next so he could give her his report.

Nate was sitting dutifully on a pony that was being led around in a circle. He waved to Prue every time he crossed in front of her and she waved back enthusiastically. The woman who owned the ponies had promised Prue that she could feed each of the ponies a carrot and pet them before she loaded them back onto their trailer. Prue was staying put by the ponies so the woman couldn’t leave without her knowing.

Felicity stood in the line for snow cones. Her camera was out and recording the twins to share with Oliver and Tommy. As soon as the twins ate their frozen treats, she was going to encourage Nate to go play with his friends and she’d keep Prue company. She was proud of how devoted Nate was to his twin, but she didn’t want him to think it was his job to dote on his sister.

Felicity didn’t recognize any of the mothers at the party. Her schedule meant that play dates and carpools were really Tommy’s purview. She’d planned on introducing herself to some moms when she’d arrived, but an emergency call with Shanghai had her sitting in her car for a half hour. Observing the other moms, Felicity realized she was one of the oldest moms in attendance, by at least a decade. Her age, and the fact that QC was one of the main employers in Starling, could be why she hadn’t befriended any of the other moms in Prue and Nate’s class. Odds were, she was the employer of most of the parents in attendance.

“Poor thing,” a mom with a sleek black ponytail said.

“I know,” a mom with a short blonde pixie cut said. “It’s sad.”

“What’s wrong, do you think?” a short, very pregnant, brunette asked.

“I heard cancer,” whispered black ponytail.

Felicity stopped recording the twins. She felt awkward picking up a conversation about someone’s medical crisis. She hoped whichever mom they were talking about was okay. She made a mental note to ask Tommy if there was a sick mom in the twins’ class and if there was anything they could do to help.

Felicity slid her phone back into her pocket and resigned herself to making an introduction when blonde pixie said, “I don’t know why she brought her to the party. A sick child is so depressing. No one needs to see that.”

Felicity’s eyes flew to her daughter, the clear subject of the moms’ gossip. Prue didn’t look sick, she looked happy. She wasn’t ruining anyone’s good time.

Pregnant brunette rubbed her belly, “It just makes me grateful that I have healthy children. I can’t imagine going through that. It must be terrifying.”

“They’re billionaires,” black ponytail said dismissively.

“What does that have to do with anything?” pregnant brunette asked.

“I don’t know,” black ponytail chittered.

“Well, it’s a stupid thing to say. It doesn’t matter how much money they have. A sick child is a sick child,” pregnant brunette said. “It’s terrible.”

“Pregnancy has made you emotional, Cinta,” blonde pixie teased. “I imagine having billions of dollars takes the sting out of it.”

The women’s words filled Felicity with rage. Her family had experienced a terrifying summer where they’d faced a very real possibility of losing Prue. The thought that anyone could think that billions of dollars could ever replace their child in their hearts was almost beyond her comprehension. She didn’t doubt that these women loved their children and would be crushed if they had to face what she and her husbands had faced, but these women clearly didn’t think that Felicity or her husbands loved their children as much as they loved their own. Years spent in the spotlight had taught Felicity that many people didn’t view celebrities as fully human. She forced herself to take a series of calming breaths. The last thing she wanted to do was cause a scene at a children’s party.

“When are you due?” Felicity interrupted.

The three women’s smiles fell from their faces as they realized who was behind them in the line.

“Um, six weeks,” Cinta answered with a hesitant smile.

“The time will fly by,” Felicity said with a kind smile. “Good luck.”

“Thank you,” Cinta stammered.

“Are you waiting?” Felicity gestured towards the woman manning the snow cone cart.

All three women shook their heads.

Felicity stepped up to the machine and ordered three rainbow snow cones. Unable to hold her tongue, she stopped on her way back to the twins to speak to the gossiping women, “It’s not cancer. She’s not ruining anyone’s good time. It was terrifying and having billions of dollars didn’t lessen the sting.”

The women’s jaws fell open, but they appeared to lose the ability to form words. Deciding a response wasn’t necessary, Felicity left the gossips to rejoin her children.

Nate was being lifted from his trusted steed when Felicity made it back to the pony circle.

“Did you see, mommy?” Nate asked excitedly.

“I did, monkey. I even took some video for your dads,” Felicity said as she led the twins to a small table. As soon as the twins were seated, Felicity handed each of them a cone.

Prue’s face lit up, “It’s too pretty to eat.”

“Well, it’s going to melt if you don’t eat it and then it won’t look very pretty,” Felicity placed a napkin on Prue’s lap.

Nate took a big bite and shuddered, “It’s cold.”

Prue took a tentative lick and smiled, “Mmm, cherry.”

“Are you going to have some mommy?” Nate asked, his tongue stained a bright blue.

Felicity took a bite of her snow cone, the sweet syrup stinging her throat as she swallowed. The flavor triggered memories of local street fairs that her mom would take her to when she was a child. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the happy memories. She pulled her cell from her pocket and took pictures of the twins to send to her mom.

“Why are those moms staring at us?” Prue asked.

“No one is staring at us,” Felicity answered, refusing to turn around.

Nate craned his head to look. “They’re looking at us and whispering,” he informed them.

“Is it because you’re famous?” Prue asked.

“We don’t need to worry about them,” Felicity said. “How was your pony ride?”

“It was fun. Her name is, Peaches, and she’s eight,” Nate reported.

“The lady said I could feed Peaches and Popcorn a carrot before she leaves,” Prue reminded her mom.

“Can we get a pony?” Nate asked hopefully.

“No,” Felicity answered. “We don’t have enough room.”

“It could share our room,” Prue offered. “Nate can sleep in my bed and the pony can sleep in Nate’s.”

“Ponies don’t sleep in beds,” Felicity wiped Nate’s chin. “Besides, I think your dads would be unhappy with us if we took home a pony.”

“We don’t have to bring one home today,” Nate explained. “We could ask our dads and if they said yes, we could get one next weekend.”

“Cobble Hill doesn’t allow ponies,” Felicity switched tactics.

“We could move,” Prue countered.

“Would you want to leave our house? Your bedroom?” Felicity asked, a little heartbroken at the idea of even hypothetically leaving their home.

Prue’s mouth was hidden by the snow cone, but the smile was evident in her eyes, “If it means we can have a pony, yes.”

“I hate to disappoint you two, but we can’t have a pony,” Felicity said, hoping she wasn’t about to send one of them into a meltdown.

“If we ask our dads and they say yes, can we have a pony?” Nate asked.

“If your dads say yes, I’ll consider it,” Felicity answered. She was pretty sure her husbands would say no, but there was always a chance that they’d agree and she’d have to come up with a good enough reason to say no – other than the fact that she was drawing the line at pony for a frivolous indulgence. Her children had everything their hearts could possibly desire. They would suffer no ill consequences from not having a pony as children.

“When we go home,” Nate stage whispered to Prue, “you ask, daddy. He never says no to you.”

Felicity bit her lip to keep from laughing. She shouldn’t encourage her children to analyze which of their dads was the most pliable to their demands. They were right, Oliver was the parent most likely to agree to a pony, especially, if Prue asked. She could practically hear him rationalizing his decision to his spouses. She would have to get to Oliver before the twins did.

“If we got a small pony,” Prue said to Felicity, “and we put it in the garden, no one would know. If anyone asks, we can say it’s a toy that only looks and acts like a pony.”

“Or, I could just buy you a toy pony and we wouldn’t have to lie,” Felicity grinned.

Prue’s mouth hung open at her mom’s suggestion. She turned to her brother for help. He turned to Felicity, “It would teach us responsibility. We would take care of it.”

“You would?” Felicity asked as she took another bite of her snow cone. “When was the last time either of you walked or fed Tess?”

“Tess is Will’s dog,” Prue said, struggling to maintain a straight face.

“Mommy,” Nate giggled, “your tongue is blue.”

“So’s yours,” she informed her son. “So’s yours,” she told Prue.

“Can we take a picture to show Bobby?” Nate asked.

“Sure, come here,” Felicity pushed back her chair.

The twins each sat on one of her legs and wrapped their sticky fingers around her back. Felicity held up her phone and took a picture with their blue tongues sticking out. Felicity showed the results to the twins for their approval.

“I’m done,” Prue held out her cone to Felicity.

“Me too,” Nate said.

“Okay, let’s go put these in the trash,” Felicity said wiping down the small table.

She followed the kids to a trash can and removed wet wipes from her bag. She wiped their hands and faces as they squirmed to get away.

“What do you want me to do next?” Nate asked Prue.

Prue looked around the backyard, her bottom lip between her teeth as she considered his options.

“Why don’t you decide, monkey,” Felicity told Nate. “Go do whatever you want. I’ll keep Prue company.”

“Are you sure?” Nate asked Prue.

Prue nodded and wrapped her arm around Felicity’s leg, “Mommy and I will be fine.”

Nate smiled before chasing after several little boys. Prue sighed heavily.

“You okay, sweet pea?” Felicity ran her hand over Prue’s curls.

“Do we have to stay much longer?” Prue asked through a yawn as she watched her brother.

“We can leave after the cake and April opens her presents,” Felicity answered.

“When will that be?” Prue rested her chin on Felicity’s stomach and looked up at her.

“Soon, baby.” Felicity looked around for an activity Prue could participate in. “Look. There isn’t a line to get your face painted.”

Prue shook her head, “It’s too hot. I want to watch the ponies.”

“Okay,” Felicity said. “Let’s watch the ponies.”

Felicity stood in the shade of a tree and watched Prue watching the ponies. Her daughter didn’t seem bothered that she couldn’t run around as she spoke quietly to Peaches and Popcorn as they walked in circles.

“It’s good to see her up and about,” an approaching woman said to Felicity. “April was happy to see that she could come today.”

Felicity stood up, “You’re April’s mom?”

“Yes, one of them. I’m Joanna Martin,” she squinted into the sun and pointed towards a woman in her mid to late forties standing by the popcorn machine, “that’s my wife, Lynn.”

“I’m Felicity Smoak,” she extended her hand. “Thank you for inviting us.”

Joanna laughed and gestured for Felicity to sit back down. She sat down next to her, “Please, I feel guilty sending these invites out. We only have one child. I can’t imagine what it’s like juggling all these with four kids.”

“We were just saying that we need to hire a social secretary for the children – we were only half joking,” Felicity admitted.

“Tommy said he was attending a princess tea party today,” Joanna smiled. “I have to admit, I was sorry he didn’t come. He makes the Gossip Girls so much more bearable.”

Felicity studied the woman next to her. She was in her late thirties, with cropped blonde hair and was very fit. She couldn’t remember Tommy ever mentioning a mom named Joanna, but it was hard to keep all the parents straight. “The Gossip Girls?” Felicity asked.

Joanna used her chin to point to sleek ponytail, blonde pixie and Cinta, “The Gossip Girls.”

“I got a taste of them earlier,” Felicity said. “Who knew having kids would be like being in junior high again?”

“Having kids is more terrifying than junior high ever was. Your husband was a lifesaver when we adopted April. She was almost three when we were matched with her. I met Tommy in the park one afternoon. She was crying. I was crying.” Joanna laughed, “Tommy came out of nowhere, like a superhero, with a juice box and tissues. I remembered watching him with two three-year-olds and thinking that he made two look so easy and I couldn’t handle one.”

“If someone handed me a toddler as my first child, I probably would’ve had a meltdown too.  Infants are a lot of work, but you are gradually introduced to mobility, talking and free will. Getting all of that at once must’ve been overwhelming.”

“It was,” Joanna grinned, “but we figured it out.” She looked out across her lawn at the running children, “I don’t know where the time went. Six. It doesn’t seem possible.”

“It goes so fast,” Felicity agreed. “I can’t believe we have a twenty-five, thirteen and a ten-year-old at home too.”

“Lynn,” Joanna waved to her wife, “has twenty-one and twenty-three-year-old sons from her first marriage. They stayed on the east coast with their dad when we moved here to Starling.”

“What brought you to Starling?” Felicity asked.

“Lynn’s a software engineer. She was offered a job at Kord Industries, so we moved west,” Joanna answered. “We’d already been married three years and I’d been trying to get pregnant for two of them. The artificial insemination wasn’t working.”

“I’m sorry,” Felicity’s fingers dug into her legs. “It’s hard. It took us two years to get pregnant with the twins. The treatments were brutal.”

Joanna’s eyes looked pinched, “It was an emotionally devastating process. So much hope and crushing disappointment. We decided to adopt.” She looked to her daughter and relaxed, “I think April was meant to be mine. I had to go through all of that to be ready for her when she was ready for me.”

Felicity watched the birthday girl bouncing with her friends in the castle. She was waving to her mom, Lynn. “She’s beautiful and looks very happy.”

“Thank you, but her happiness is all thanks to the sugar,” Joanna laughed. “Your children are all beautiful. Every time I see them, it’s like they’re right out of a catalog. Of course, their mom is beautiful, and according to the Gossip Girls, their dads are sex on legs.”

“I’ve always thought so,” Felicity smiled. “Do you stay home with April?”

“I do. Lynn thinks it’s time for me to go back to work, but I want to adopt a second child. I don’t want April to be an only child. Her brothers are too much older.”

“I don’t think age matters. Our twenty-five-year-old is adored by his younger siblings,” Felicity said of William.

“No, but April’s brothers blame me for breaking up their parents’ marriage. They don’t want to have anything to do with her,” Joanna said sadly. “I don’t want her to go through life lonely.”

Felicity made a mental note to send a thank you text to William. The day he walked into their lives was a lucky one for their family. He was a great big brother, even if he was decades older than his siblings. “I always wanted a brother or a sister, Tommy did too. I think it’s why we have five children now – either that, or we’re insane.”

“Lynn and I questioned our sanity this morning as they started setting up out here. I think this party is costing more than our wedding,” Joanna said.

“Nothing seems like too much when it comes to our kids,” Felicity’s eyes tracked Nate as he kicked a soccer ball to another little boy, “except for maybe a pony.”

Joanna smiled ruefully, “Sorry about that. We had to tell April that the ponies weren’t actually moving in with us. Your Prue seems pretty taken with them.”

“Prue loves animals – Nate does too. We ended up buying a family membership to the zoo because we’re there, at least, once a month. I’m pushing the pony conversation onto their dads.”

“That seems more than fair,” Joanna said. “I’m always relieved when Lynn gets to be the heavy.”

“Mommy,” Prue ran towards Felicity.

Felicity braced for a collision. “What, monkey?”

“Get up.” Prue grabbed Felicity’s hand and began to pull, “The pony lady said she’s going to leave in ten minutes. I don’t want to miss feeding Peaches and Popcorn a carrot.”

“Prue, we won’t miss the ponies leaving. We’re looking right at them.” Felicity turned Prue to face Joanna, “Thank April’s mommy for having you to the party.”

“Thank you, Ms. Martin,” Prue said.

“You’re welcome. I’m so glad you could come,” Joanna said. “I’m going to go check on the cake. It was nice meeting you, Felicity.”

“You too, Joanna,” Felicity responded.

“Mommy,” Prue whined as she pulled on Felicity’s hand. “I’m going to miss it.”

“Prue, we have ten minutes. We’re not missing anything, I promise,” Felicity said firmly.

Prue’s eyes filled with tears, “I’m going to miss it.”

Felicity knelt in the grass and took her daughter’s hands, “Look at me, Prue. I promise, we are not going to miss the ponies leaving. You’re going to get to feed them.”

“I miss everything,” Prue sobbed as she wrapped her arms around Felicity’s neck. “It’s not fair.”

Felicity held her daughter close, fighting her own tears that threatened to spill at Prue’s grief. It wasn’t just the pain and the endless tests that Prue hated about her time spent in the hospital, but the fact that her siblings and cousins got to have fun adventures without her.

“Baby, you’re not going to miss feeding the ponies. Not today.”

Nate ran up to his mom and sister. He placed his hand on Prue’s back, “Are you okay?”

Prue nodded against Felicity’s neck.

“She’s excited to feed the ponies,” Felicity explained.

Nate’s brow crinkled with concern. “Are you sure her tummy doesn’t hurt?”

“My tummy doesn’t hurt,” Prue said, lifting her head.

Nate smiled with relief, “Good. I hear the cake is vanilla with strawberry filling.”

“Our favorite,” Prue said wiping her eyes.

“Maybe we can have two pieces,” Nate suggested to his sister.

Felicity chuckled, “I think one slice is plenty.”

Nate frowned, but then his eyes lit up and he smiled, “We can ask for some to take home.”

The woman with the ponies waved and pointed towards the front of the house. Felicity waved back and mouthed, “Thank you.”

“Okay, monkeys. Let’s go wait for the ponies by their trailer. The pony lady is getting ready to go,” Felicity informed the twins. She took them each by the hand and led them towards the gate.

“You’ll take video of us to show dads, right?” Prue asked. “I want them to see how good we are with the ponies so they’ll get us one.”

“I will take a video for your dads,” Felicity promised.

Fifteen minutes later, the twins wore large smiles on their faces as they held their palms flat and the ponies took the carrots from their hands.

“Peaches tickles, mommy,” Nate giggled.

“Popcorn likes carrots more than Tess,” Prue reported when all the carrots were gone.

“Let’s say thank you and head back for some cake,” she told the twins.

 

While the twins happily ate birthday cake, Felicity sent her husbands a text message.

_F: Be prepared. The twins are going to ask you for a pony tonight._

Oliver and Tommy responded, almost instantly.

_T: That’s better than the baby brother or sister they were asking for last week._

_O: To be clear, we are saying, no – about the pony? We did tell them, no, about the baby, right?_

_F: YES – to both questions._

_T: We are saying, NO!_

_O: They look really cute with the ponies…_

_T: Ollie, you can’t have a pony._

_O: I could look into finding a place to board the pony. I could talk to Thea about reopening the Queen stables._

_F: No_

_T: NO!_

_O: She looks so happy._

_T: Ollie…_

_O: We can afford a pony._

_T: She does look happy… Ponies are small._

_F: Tommy. Stay strong._

_T: We could see if this is a momentary thing or something she really wants._

_O: That’s a good idea._

 

Felicity sighed as she read her husbands’ messages. She’d hoped that Tommy would hold onto reason. The last thing their busy schedules needed was a pony. She glanced over at the twins. Nate was talking to April, but Prue was fighting to keep her eyes open. It had been a long day for a still fragile Prue.

 

_F: The only acceptable answer to the pony question, is – NO. (I would also accept, Hell, no!)_

_T: You’re right._

_O: I’ll take them to the petting zoo tomorrow to visit Peanut III._

_F: Thank you! We’re going to head out after cake. Prue can barely keep her eyes open._

A throat clearing drew Felicity’s attention. The Gossip Girls were standing in front of her, shifting uncomfortably on their feet. Sleek ponytail elbowed Cinta in the back.

Cinta smiled nervously, “I’m Jacinta Whethers, but everyone calls me, Cinta. I’m Max’s mom.” She pointed to a little boy that Nate had been playing with earlier. She pointed to sleek ponytail, “This is Heidi Bolte, Danny’s mom, and this,” she pointed to blonde pixie, “is Allison McAndrew, Patrick’s mom.”

“I’m Felicity Smoak, Nate and Prue’s mom,” she said holding out her hand. “It’s nice to meet you.” The Gossip Girls shook her hand.

“We wanted to apologize to you for earlier. We were curious about Prue, but we were wrong to speculate. We’re sorry if we caused you distress,” Cinta said.

“Thank you. I appreciate you coming over to apologize. Prue had a difficult summer, but she’s feeling a lot better. She just wants to get back to normal and play with all of her friends,” Felicity said. “She gets enough scrutiny from her doctors and the press. Her dads and I hope that returning to school and her friends will make her feel safe and help her forget about her health.”

“I would want that too,” Allison said. “Any parent would.”

“If you’ll excuse me. I want to say goodbye to our hosts. I’m sure I’ll see you again,” Felicity said politely.

The Gossip Girls’ apology had been unexpected, but Felicity was grateful for it. Too often, strangers thought that because the Merlyn-Queen-Smoak family was famous, they weren’t entitled to privacy or to have feelings that could be hurt. It was bad enough perfect strangers speculated about her family, but it was so much worse when it was people who had direct interactions with her children. Time would tell how sincere the women were being, but she was prepared to give them the benefit of the doubt. She was going to need to sit down with Tommy and get the scoop on the parents of the children in Prue and Nate’s class. Socializing with other parents was a lot like being a vigilante - it was always good to be able to tell your friends from your enemies.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading. Kudos and comments are always welcomed and appreciated. Hearing from you is my favorite part of the day.
> 
> And we're back to the kidfics - it was a long week. lol
> 
> Prompt requests are encouraged.
> 
> You can also come say hi to me on tumblr. http://realityisoverrated-fic.tumblr.com


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